Spot remover for cleaning clothes



. must remove is paint.

the prior art, for removing paint have contained oleic acid United States Patent 3,124,537 sror REP/ OVER FQR CLEANENG CLOTHES Ralph Miiholland, 2314 Brown St., Little Rock, Ark. No Drawing. Filed Aug. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 136,748

, 3 Claims. (Cl. 252-153) This invention relates to spot removers and to methods 'of removing spots from cloth, such as wearing apparel.

Approximately 90% of the spots, which cleaning establishments are called upon to remove, are of unknown origin. This presents a serious problem because certain kinds of spots are set by certain kinds of cleaning fiuids.

Another problem encountered by cleaners is that the,

removal of spots left after cleaning often leaves a ring that cannot be removed except by running the article through the cleaning apparatus a second time. Loss of color of the article cleaned is another problem and some protection against this has been obtained in conventional cleaning methods by using cold water to rinse out spots after treating the article with a spot remover.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved spot remover, and more especially'a spot remover that can be used with any spot and which will clean without leaving a ring or other mark which requires recleaning of the article.

Another object is to combine certain ingredients of known cleaning ability with others that are incompatible except in combination with certain ingredients of this invention for bringing the otherwise incompatible materials into a mixture with the compatinizing agent.

The spot remover of this invention is neutral and does not set spots of unknown origin such as often occurs with other cleaners, particularly alkali cleaners, for removing spots. Another advantage of the invention is that it can be used with a steam gun.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved method of removing spots by impregnating the cloth simultaneously with a certain mixture of solvents and a penetrating agent and with a water-soluble oil that holds the spot in suspension. In the preferred method, the spot is washed out with a steam gun while held in this suspension.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

One substance which a spotting and cleaning mixture Many of the spotting agents, of

and toluene and such an agent has to be rinsed out completely with a volatile solvent, as by dry cleaning after removal of the paint spot. Other paint removers now on the market have as a base a glycol or phenol and these paint removers have to be rinsed from the fabric and they cannot be used with steam gun spotting.

The base of this invention is sulphonated castor oil (monopole oil) which is water'soluble; which does not require complete rinsing, and which is safe in spotting with a steam gun.

Sulphonated castor oil will not mix with aromatic hydrocarbon (toluene) alone to make a satisfactory spotting agent. Sulphonated castor oil will not mix with an acetate ester such as amyl acetate, butyl acetate or ethyl acetate; and sulphonated castor oil will not mix with alcohol, such as butyl alcohol, to make a spotting agent of any value.

Pyridine is of no value as a' spotting agent when mixed with oil.

However, by combining the esters, of this invention, with toluene, a combination is obtained that will mix with oil to form a heavy viscous solution. The pyridine serves a dual purpose. It breaks up the large molecular structure to produce a thinner solution and it has great penetrating power and dissolving action on metallic salts.

Butyl alcohol also mixes well with the ester-toluene combination, but only a small percentage can be used safely.

The sulphonated castor oil, being an unsaturated oil, absorbs the acetates and this causes it to swell so that toluene will go into the oil. The'mixture is then thinned with a small percentage of pyridine to obtain a spotting agent of outstanding merit. It is not understood what the chemical solution hydrolizes to, but it apparently has the ability to penetrate into a stain and separate the carbon atom structure of the molecules of the stain. Then, when a small amount of water is supplied, it causes the oil to swell, or expand, and dissolves or loosens up the stains so that they can then be easily rinsed out with steam.

The spot remover of this invention includes a mixture of two solvents. These solvents are amyl acetate and lacquer thinner. The latter is composed of four compounds, as follows: toluene 66%; ethyl acetate 14%; butyl acetate 15%; and butyl alcohol 5%. These proportions are by weight.

The solvents are mixed with the water-soluble monopole oil (sulphonated castor oil) which is not a cleaning agent but which holds thestain or spot in suspension so that it can be washed out with water. A penetrating ingredient is used in the mixture, preferably pyridine.

Any attempt to mix dry solvents with oil generally results in a separation. A decrease in the volatile solvents cuts down the efiiciency of the cleaning or spot-removing mixture. I have discovered that amyl acetate and lacquer thinner can be mixed with monopole oil, within the proportions of this invention, without separation; and also that lacquer thinner used in the formula of this invention does not damage the color of the fabric, and does not leave a ring as is often the case when used alone.

A special cleaning problem is created by lipstick. Lipsticks generally have a grease base with rodemine basic dye. If the grease is removed from the fabric, it becomes almost impossible to remove the dye. The spot remover of this invention loosens both the grease and the dye, and a steam gun can then be employed to wash away all of the ingredients. If a steam gun were used after application of a grease remover (lacquer thinner) alone, the grease in the lipstick would be removed and the dye would remain.

The spot remover of this invention is neutral in that it is not an acid or an alkali. Accordingly, it will not set an acid or an alkali spot. This is important because of the fact that almost all of the spots treated are of unknown origin. The most difficult spots with this invention are stains such as blood, albumen and tannic stains, which have previously been set by contact with heat or an alkali. Mustard stains can be removed with this invention, and such stains cannot be removed with other commercial dry cleaning agents.

The spot remover of this invention has been found effective also for removing spots left when buttons are pressed into cloth. Also, with fabrics figured with paint such as a polka-dot pattern and which often run after dry cleaning, the spotremover of this invention will remove the marks left by this running. in removing such marks, the spot remover of this invention does not thin the odoring material of the dots sutliciently to cause further runnmg.

The preferred formula for the spot remover of this invention is as follows:

1 One gallon.

Some variations in thistormula can be made but approximately these proportions are necessary to obtain the full advantages of this invention.

In addition to the novel formulation of the spot remover of this invention, thereare process aspects of the invention. The impregnating of the fabric simultaneously with amyl acetate and lacquer thinner, and with a watersoluble oil for holding the spot in suspension, obtains new and different results from the use of amyl acetate alone, or lacquer thinner alone, and the results are not the sum total of the effect of the individual ingredients. The reasons for the outstanding result of this invention are not fully understood.

The next step of the process, after the simultaneous impregnation with the different solvents, mixed in with the monopole oil and pyridine, is the washing out of the spot. This is done with Water and may be done eflectively with a steam gun without loss of color and without leaving a ring. I

This elimination of the ring is one of the most important advantages of this invention, because fabrics do not have to be re-run through the dry cleaning process. At the present time-many fabrics are dry cleaned and then a spot is found which prevents a particular piece of clothing from being returned to the customer. All of these spots can be removed, but in many instances re-cleaning is necessary to remove a ring left by the spotter, or the color may be lost by use of a particular type of spotting formula. This invention is believed to be the only steam spot remover; the only spot remover that can be applied to all spots and the spot and cleaner then washed out of the fabric by use of a steam gun Without loss of color and without leaving a ring.

This application is a continuation-impart of application Serial No. 804,599, filed April 7, 1959.

The preferred embodiments have been described but changes and modifications can be made Within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A spot remover for use With apparel, the spot remover comprising a mixture of amyl acetate, lacquer thinner, a water-soluble sulphonated castor oil for holding the spot in suspensionprior to Washing out of the spot, and a quantity of pyridine that serves as a penetrating oil, thelacquer thinner comprising approximately 66% toluene; 5% butyl alcohol; and the balance ethyl and butyl acetate, the quantities of ethyl and butyl acetate being such that a combination is obtained that will mix with the sulfonated castor oil to form a heavy viscous solution, the spot remover being approximately 46.8% of sulphonated castor oil, 25% of amyl acetate, 25% of lacquer thinner and 3.2% pyridine.

2. The spot remover described in claim 1 characterized by the lacquer thinner being appoximately 66% toluene; 14% ethyl acetate; 15% butyl acetate; and 5% butyl alcohol.

3. The spot remover described in claim 1 and in which the mixture is neutral.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 879,375 Ellis Feb. 1a, 1998 FOREIGN PATENTS 331,034 Great Britain June 26, 1930 OTHER REFERENCES Bennet: The Chemical Formulary, vol 9, Chem. Publ. Co., 1951, pages 534 and 535.

Bonnet: The Chemical Formulary, vol. 10, Chem. Publ. Co., 1957, pages 304-310. 

1. A SPOT REMOVER FOR USE WITH APPAREL, THE SPOT REMOVER COMPRISING A MIXTURE OF AMYL ACETATE, LACQUER THINNER, A WATER-SOLUBLE SULPHONATED CASTOR OIL FOR HOLDING THE SPOT IN SUSPENSION PRIOR TO WASHING OUT OF THE SPOT, AND A QUANTITY OF PYRIDINE THAT SERVES AS A PENETRATING OIL, THE LACQUER THINNER COMPRISING APPROXIMATELY 66% TOLUENE; 5% BUTY ALCOHOL; AND THE BALANCE ETHYL AND BUTYL ACETATE, THE QUANTITIES OF ETHYL AND BUTYL ACETATE BEING SUCH THAT A COMBINATION IS OBTAINED THAT WILL MIX WITH THE SULFONATED CASTOR OIL TO FORM A HEAVY VISCOUS SOLUTION, THE SPOT REMOVER BEING APPROXIMATELY 46.8% OF SULPHONATED CASTOR OIL, 25% OF AMYL ACETATE, 25% OF LACQUER THINNER AND 3.2% PYRIDINE. 